Naive
by SheenaBelmont
Summary: The powerful Kou Empire couldn't afford the luxury of being benevolent with the traitors. And even less so with those ones in its own bosom, those that belonged to its own blood. Hakuei wondered if there was any exit to that whirl of hate and destruction, any way for her beloved ones to stay alive. One-shot, Hakuei-centric. SPOILERS manga chapter 274.


_Hi there guys!~_

 _Long time no update here... I was super out of inspiration. Also I felt so lazy to write/translate anything lately. But here it is! This was my first Magi one-shot. I love Kouen/Hakuei so much despite how bad things are rn in the manga for them. I think they truly loved each other, but no way. This is a Hakuei-centric fanfic. I hope you like it!_

 **A/N:** SPOILERS manga chapter 274.

 **Warning:** Magi belongs to Shinobu Ohtaka, not me.

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Time passed by slowly in the cell. The place was not an actual cell but Hakuei knew she was imprisoned. There were no bars or grills in that room in the loneliest part of the palace where she was raised, where she used to live and walk free before her world came down. But soldiers guarded day and night the perimeter of the new rooms assigned for her. She had not permission to carry any weapon anymore, not even her metallic vessel.

She didn't blame them for that and she tried not to cause trouble. She accepted her penalty with good will and the highest dignity. She knew that if she was on the opposite side she would have acted the same way. It was what must be done, just like that. The powerful Kou Empire couldn't afford the luxury of being benevolent with the traitors. And even less so with those ones in its own bosom, those that belonged to its own blood.

She never thought of a deliberated treason, actually. Civil war opened many wounds into the Empire. As always, common people, ordinary citizens payed for the sins of others. If it were not enough, she found her loyalty in a tight spot, divided and compromised since the very beginning because the dissident side was lead by her own brother. She was expected to put her affection or any feelings that could turn into weaknesses aside in order to win the war and defeat him as soon as possible. How could have she been asked something like that? How could she remain unaffected while her family slaughtered one after the other? She must be loyal to the Empire but Hakuryuu was part of that Empire too.

It should have been easy. She never shared the ideals of his crusade after all. It was a blow to know that her mother killed her father and her two brothers. It probably was much more horrible for Hakuryuu to know the truth and hide it from her for years in order to not hurt her. She felt guilty and responsible for it. She felt guilty because she tought she was protecting Hakuryuu when he was the one that was actually protecting her from the cruel reality. She felt responsible because keeping that secret was what fed his thirst for vengeance. It resulted in a war and he turned into a murderer capable even of finish his own mother off. How could she allow that cycle of violence and death to continue?

Sadly, she was the only one with that point of view. For everyone else Hakuryuu was only a renegade, a mere criminal. Hakuei agreed with them in the fact that the way he chose was not the correct but she couldn't sit back and do nothing waiting for him to die due to his mistakes. That was why she moved her army away from Tenzan meseta in order to give the Seven Seas Alliance's army the chance to protect her brother. Wasn't that her duty as his older sister? Sinbad promised her to use all his power to prevent from anything bad happening to Hakuryuu. That was all she needed to close the deal with him. Truth be told, she didn't think much about the consequences of her decision – she only knew that her family was safe and it was all that mattered.

Of course it was a terrible treason from Kou's perspective. Those who were also his family, not because of blood ties nor adoption but for the strong ties that joined them, couldn't believe it. She was repeating the same history and they wondered how she could do such thing. And things kept their path. All her decisions were wrong. Her intention was saving Hakuryuu, showing him that he was fighting an absurd war. Far from reconsidering it, he took the chance given by his sister to reinforce his stance. Her attempt was in vain, as prince Koumei told her. How many men would die while the fight lasted? How many citizens from the empire she aspired to govern would be killed by her brother? A shiver went down Hakuei's spine when she realized she would carry with all these deaths – it was almost the same as if she killed them herself.

So, for the first time since her father died, she gave up. She was uncapable of choosing one side. She rejected staying with Sinbad and the protection he offered her. She realized she couldn't run away from her own demons, no matter what side she was on. She returned to Kou to face the judge and sentence of his emperor but he hadn't pronounced himself yet.

That was another chapter of the tempestuous story that was being written in Kou. Hakuei knew she destroyed the trust that Kouen gave her as a general. Even more, it hurt to break her feelings into pieces. It had been long years of furtive looks, spontaneous gestures, hidden smiles and not so innocent sentences. She never cherished hope, she never expected something to happen because both had bigger responsibilities. Bit it happened and she never felt so happy, despite many trying to warn her. She was told she didn't know who she was getting involved with. She was told the prince was not who he pretended, that he had a dark side, that he was terribly cold and cruel in the background. Hakuei paid any attention. She was sure she knew him better than anyone. She thought it was just gossip or a façade he created to inspire fear on his enemies. If it was true and he hid something like that in his heart she would calm that so everybody could see the great person he really was.

However, she had only doubts about that now. Was it really true? Maybe she didn't make enough effort or maybe that darkness was real and it was impossible to erase it. Would it be the reason why he tolerated the presence of Judal as the Empire's magi? She couldn't understand the man that swore to love her, who she was going to marry, was capable of executing her. She did something terrible, she turned her back on him, she was not better than his enemies. She knew that her treason was worse for him than anybody else. But he was not that heartless. She would never fall in love with someone like that! She was so afraid of this supposed true self of him. Had her been unable to see it before? Deep down she expected him to understand that she didn't mean to harm him but only save his brother. She saw many shades of grey while for Kouen it was just black or white.

So then the war was in a deadlock while the time passed by slowly in the rooms that were actually a prison and Hakuei wondered what would happen. Should she follow her heart and keep believing that the man she loved didn't leave her. Should she blindly trust he would be able to forgive her. There was any exit to that whirl of hate and destruction, any way for her beloved ones to stay alive? One time Judal said that, even if she thought she was powerful, her compassionate nature would take her to death. She could only wait and pray for him not being right.

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 _Ok, so then eveybody said Hakuei was a dirty traitor in this part but... I honestly think she had a good, powerful reason to do what she did. She loves her brother more than anything in the world, even if she loves Kouen too. I think she just couldn't sit there and let him die. He is her family. There is much more behind her "betrayal." So I came up with this idea._

 _I hope you enjoyed it. Comments are very appreciated. Bye!~_


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